The Pelican Brief Research Paper

Pelican Brief Research Essay American author John Grisham shows readers how the criminal justice system works in his many legal suspense fiction novels. His previous career in law helps provide the audience with an in-depth, realistic exposure to the legal system. One aspect of criminology that Grisham is able to highlight is criminal profiling. In John Grisham's book, The Pelican Brief, he portrays his knowledge of law and criminal profiling when his character Darby, with the help of others, solves the case of who killed two Supreme Court Justices and why.

John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955, in Jonesboro, Arkansas (“GJ”). During his childhood, his family moved often due to his father being a construction worker who needed to find projects

“Successful criminal profilers must possess excellent analytical and critical thinking abilities, good communication skills, and the ability to effectively analyze scientific and statistical data” (“BCP”). This involves investigating the crime and trying to find the reasoning behind it based on the evidence, witnesses, and the victims themselves (“BCP”). Profilers must understand the crime very well and know all of the details to be able to pin someone as the suspect. Also, be familiar with some psychology may help with knowing human behavior relating to crime and the legal system (“BCP”). One aspect of criminal profiling that Grisham uses throughout The Pelican Brief is linkage analysis. “Linkage analysis is a form of criminal profiling that applies psychology to physical evidence from a crime scene to predict whether a series of crimes is likely to have been committed by the same individual” (“Criminal Profiling”). Geographical proximity and victim similarities are key factors in linkage analysis (“Criminal Profiling”). Grisham demonstrated linkage analysis by requiring Darby to figure out how the deaths of Rosenberg and Jensen were connected to each other and eventually Callahan, Verheek, and Morgan as